Robust partnership with communities and health systems are essential for revitalizing primary health care and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Countries have prioritized a systems approach to community health to achieve universal health coverage and overcome a range of challenges (policy, financing, partnerships, integration in systems, sustainability and scale) to make communities valued resources in national and local systems. The Integrating Community Health (ICH) collaboration focuses on catalytic systems strengthening partnerships at the national and local levels in 7 countries (Bangladesh, DRC, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Uganda). These partnerships are supporting countries at a critical juncture to develop and scale up high quality community health worker programs supported by health and community systems. Complementary partnerships (Population Council, Last Mile Health) focus on strengthening measurement, learning, evaluation, and advocacy for sustainability support a broader set of priority countries.
What is the ICH Collaboration: USAID, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation developed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on a set of jointly defined investment priorities that advance frontline delivery of primary health care and community engagement in health systems. The ICH collaboration focuses on partnerships; measurement, learning, evaluation, and accountability; and, advocacy and pathways to scale. The collaboration provides catalytic support to 7 countries, the Institutionalizing Community Health Conference (2017 and 2019), the Community Health Community of Practice for south-to-south learning and agenda setting; and the development of national and global public goods focusing on metrics, evidence and advocacy. The partnership, which is an important step toward stronger coordination between donors and partners across countries, represents action to collaboratively support community health.
This working group’s project page with community health system and CHW focus will enable partners at the national and global levels to share country challenges, progress and lessons and support one another to develop high level policy oriented country cases in a participatory manner.
The page will be dynamic so real time learning’s can be achieved.
Experts particularly welcome in this working group are :